The Red Lion The Elixir of Eternal Life An Alchemist Novel by Maria Szepes
“Initiation always occurs twice. The first time is when an Entity has come to Earth but still has an undimmed awareness of the other world. Then he steps into the Temple of Mysteries. During the trials he is alone in the silence of condensed time and shrunken space, and an indelible sketch is etched upon his soul in a few sure marks. The trials themselves are symbols of all the temptations, possibilities, and dangers to be undergone later and of the true meaning of existence. This sketch once made is guarded by the soul, and its lines are still visible through the thickest body dress, even though their meaning has been forgotten. It is the burning urge that appears in our restless dreams and drives us to and fro from experience to experience in the barricaded physical world. It is the source of the eternal discontent that causes us to reach forward for ephemeral goals. For behind these goals is the Chimera, the sacred riddle, that lures us on even through the midst of passion, ambition, intellectual attainments, death, and birth. No matter how far we stray, we are still on the prescribed path and will return to our beginnings.Then there is the second, final initiation that takes place at the end of the road, after the fires of passion are burned out and human experience has been endured. The theory becomes a living reality, and the gate of the first mystery swings open. But once you have passed the first gate, you cannot leave until you have trod the entire maze.”